Virtual reality goes to Hollywood

Why Google's going to the Oscars, some Trump titbits, news from Snapchat, an interview with a digital advertising pioneer and more from the week in marketing and advertising.

Dave Trott’s verdict on the new ads from a popular high street brand? He doesn’t mention the brand by name but let's just say he's not a fan.

An interview with John Nardone, who placed the first ever banner ads, for forgotten soft drink Zima, hotwired.com, worked on the first online ad pricing, for Yahoo, and built the first DMP. He's without any doubt a digital advertising pioneer.

If technology is so wonderful, why does it often leave you with an overwhelming sense of ‘meh’?

But Google has succeeded in winning an Oscar nomination for its 3D VR film that you can watch here:

With the populist backlash in full swing, does this mean that the annual coming together of bigwigs in Davos was a washout? Analysis from Quartz shows only one fewer helicopter landed compared to last year - clearly those in power are bouyant.

To prove that money is still making the world go round, this house at 924 Bel Air Road in Los Angeles is the most expensive for sale in America at $250 million. It's completely over-the-top in every way imaginable with 12 bedrooms and even a toilet (or 21).

Host of Secret Lives of the Super Rich, Robert Frank, seemed to be on the verge of exploding while taking us through it:

Worried about whether you can trust your employees? Let them work from home.

A mum goes back to advertising after 11 years out of agency life.

After losing the M&S account, RKCR/Y&R rebrands as Y&R LDN and Dominic Mills ponders the trampling over 17 highly successful years.

Ad fraud is not the elephant in the room but the whale with new revelations expected throughout 2017.

With Twitter selling Fabric to Google it could be the beginning of the end for the popular social network if it can’t find a way to do more with less or generate more revenue.

Could AI kill the CRO consultant? It would make some sense – boring, repetitive and iterative work that an adaptive computer could jump onto and automate.

Snapchat’s road to IPO has two main pitfalls – a culture of secrecy, and Facebook copying much of everything it does.

How a single interview (to be fair, it was with Donald Trump) spiked subscriptions for The Times.

Curious as to what to expect from President Trump? Well part of his apparent appeal is down to the fact (?) that truth and facts are now subjective according to this analysis from the Washington Post. Here's also an analysis of Trump’s inaugural speech.

Lastly, see this profile of Jared Kushner, by BBC Newsnight. The ‘golden boy’ is apparently the only person able to tell Trump what to do and has already exacted his revenge on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who despite being an early Trump supporter was instrumental in putting Kushner’s father in prison: